Massage Therapist Career Tips On Marketing Your Business

Business is business and when it comes to massage therapy, word of mouth doesn’t always work to attract new clients. Even if you’re going great guns with referrals, it’s still important to have a basic understanding of how marketing works and why it’s so important. Remember, more clients means more profit and at the end of the day, that’s why your business relies on.

While there are plenty of marketing tips out there, when it comes to getting massage therapists more clients, you need to apply the following three:

1. Testimonials

It’s a great idea to get current clients to write you testimonials. But don’t just sit on these and wait for the magic to happen. You need to advertise your services using these positive endorsements. Not only do customer testimonials paint your business in a positive light, but they also give your business legitimacy and credibility.

Remember, you’re a stranger to a new client. They want to be reassured that you’re going to do a good job.

While your current client base believes in your ability, new clients naturally want to know that you are trustworthy and excellent at what you do, otherwise they’re not going to book an appointment. It’s a simple marketing idea – potential customers are more likely to purchase your services once they know you’re trusted by others in their community.

On top of this, testimonials come from people other than yourself, meaning they’re more convincing. Clients are choosing to share their own words of how beneficial your services are.

Finally, testimonials spur emotion and it has been proven that people make decisions based on emotion, rather than logic. And nothing captures someone’s attention than sharing a story. When your loyal clients advocate for your service with a moving testimonial, and you share these via your social media channels or on your website, you’re creating a story of your service and sharing the unique emotional perspective of your current clients.

Remember, the only way you’ll receive a glowing client testimonial is to ask. Don’t be shy. While you may receive a few simply because clients wish to tell you how much they benefited from their massage, you’ll receive a whole lot more if you request them. Just remember to let the clients know that you will be sharing these testimonials and always get their approval first.

2. Educate others on the benefits of massage therapy

A great marketing tactic is to position yourself as a thought leader in your area. When it comes to massage therapy, this may mean producing educational resources so new clients understand you’re a thought leader in the industry. Whether it’s PDF guides that you can send to them prior to booking a consultation or videos that you share on social media.

This is a form of content marketing, an effective marketing discipline designed to educate audiences and position your business as the most attractive option when it comes to purchasing services.

By creating informative and educational content about topics your services relate to – for example ‘how massage can help you sleep’ – and then sharing them on your social media channels, you’re showing, rather than telling, that you know your stuff.

Another idea is to create a ‘lead magnet’ – a piece of content that people will exchange their contact details for. For example, producing a white paper, blog or video about how massage can benefit a consumer in exchange for said consumer signing up to your mailing list. While it’s nice to give away your information for free, sometimes it’s also beneficial to create content where you also receive something in return – a larger mailing list with the potential to convert new clients.

Remember, consumers are smart. They understand sneaky sales tactics and rely less on traditional advertising. They don’t want to be told, they want to be informed. And they want this information to be neutral and authentic.

3. Advertise with remarketing

Have you ever heard of remarketing? It’s basically a second chance to advertise your business, repeatedly getting your name in front of people. Need a reason why you should be using remarketing as part of your overarching business plan? Remarketing banners are 76% more likely to be clicked on that other non-targeted ads.

The process occurs by using Google Ads or Facebook to advertise, cross-sell or nurture your audience. Essentially speaking, remarketing ads are shown to people who have visited your website. For example, following a visit to your blog to read an educational article, the reader will see an advertisement for your services on their Facebook feed.

Before they read your article, the person was a cold audience as they were not familiar with your business. Once they read it and know who you are, they become a warm audience. Therefore they’re more likely to book a session with you or enquire once they see a remarketing ad because they’re familiar with your expertise in massage therapy.

It’s exceptionally beneficial to convert leads.

So if someone visits your website, has a look around, reads some of your services and blogs and then heads to the online booking page, but then leaves, it’s the perfect opportunity to remarket to that particular person. By remarketing to that person or people, you’re reminding them that you’re there and that your services are still available.

10 good practice marketing tips to follow

Once qualified, when it comes to using our massage skills and knowledge to apply a ‘hands on’ approach to restore the health and well-being of our clients, we do this very well and with great confidence. But, let’s face it, when it comes to marketing, not all of us Therapists have what it takes to build our business and generate new clients. So, if you genuinely love what you do and are passionate about helping others, all the while want to generate a decent income in doing so, you’ll need to get creative with your marketing. Thanks to Jude Borromeo, Massage Coach for the Australian Institute of Fitness, NSW, we have ten key marketing tips for your massage business that will help you get the head-start in the industry.

1. Remember this is your business

As a business owner, you need to come to terms with the idea that the success of your business is riding solely on your shoulders. So you need to be your own boss and think like an entrepreneur. Empower yourself with a positive mindset for self-promotion and build a bridge that connects your services with those who need you most. Don’t lose sight of your goals and never give up. There are three types of people in life:

– Those who make it happen,

– Those who watch it happen, and

– Those who give up.

Who will you be?

2. Create a business plan

Running a business doesn’t have to be boring, and just about the paperwork. Think outside of the box and come up with an awesome vision and mission statement that truly reflects who you are and your unique brand.

3. Create a website for your business

Having a website not only gives potential clients a place to visit to explore your services before speaking to you, it also gives your business more credibility. You want your website to be a true reflection of your business so it is important to keep it up to date. This includes, putting fresh content and images on your website regularly, advertising any offers you may have on, and updating your services, location and contact details. Having links to your business’ social media channels is a great way to gain more followers, and uploading testimonials from your clients is a great way to showcase the amazing work you do.

4. Start a blog

Now you don’t need to be the best writer, but by providing your clients more value by sharing relevant and informative information about massage therapy, your personal philosophies, and everyday tips to achieve better health and well being, you’ll be more likely to keep them on your books in the long run. You could publish articles about the benefits of massage therapy or how you can overcome a common injury, or DOMS with regular massages. Publishing a regular blog will also help boost your website’s local search results and establish you as a professional in the field – win win!

5. Create video content

As more and more business are taking to the web to market their business’, the use of video online is continuing to increase, as it is a great way to share what you do, while connecting on a more personal level with your clients. Video content can coincide with your content schedule on your blog, you can upload it onto your social media channels and publish it on your website!

6. Network

If you want to stand out from other Massage Therapists, you need to show your personality and create relationships with your clients. This is where social media can be a powerful tool as visual marketing is important and allows businesses to develop unique, personal brands online. Remember – while social media is great, nothing beats face to face relationships building.

7. Attend industry events

Business’ who promote themselves and keep up to date with the industry tend to do a lot better than those who do not. Find out what’s going on in our industry and community and be a part of it, even if you can only attend one event every six months – it is better than nothing.

8. Look after your current clients

While building your business, yes, getting more clients will increase you income, but maintaining your customers is just as important. So as soon as you bring clients on, you need to remind them that building a relationship with you comes with great benefits. Try offering exclusive deals to customers who like your Facebook page. Consider launching a raffle on Twitter, where everyone who retweets you is entered for the chance at a discounted massage. Get creative and remember that adding incentives to your marketing can boost your reach exponentially. People want to feel special, and if you help them feel that way, they’re more likely to become repeat customers or even recommend you to their friends and family.

#9 – Create a referral campaign

All good relationships benefit both parties involved, so when your clients refer your services onto a friend or family member, or when they share contact details of someone who could be a potential client – make sure you are giving something back such as a discounted or even a free massage!

#10 Grow your network

Contact and relationship management is a key attribute to your business’ success. Following up with your customers post treatment, such as feedback, or arranging their next booking can go a long way. Remember, both positive and negative feedback is great as it will help you to work on your weaknesses and keep your strengths at the forefront.

Become a certified massage therapist

Ready to take the next step in your career as a qualified massage therapist? the Australian Institute of Fitness offers several massage therapy courses to provide our students with a practical and comprehensive education. You can choose to study one of the following massage courses:

• Remedial Massage Therapist – Hlt52015 Diploma Of Remedial Massage
• Massage Therapist – Hlt42015 Certificate Iv In Massage Therapy
• Massage Essentials

• Bio

AIF

The Australian Institute of Fitness

The Australian Institute of Fitness (AIF) is the largest and longest established fitness training organisation in Australia, with dynamic training methods and expert course coaches nationwide - spanning fitness, massage and nutrition. The AIF qualifies more fitness professionals than any other provider in Australia, as well as offering a broad range of continuing education courses (CEC), upskilling resources and partnership programs for existing industry.